A hunter's day can be long and tiring. While pursuing their pray, a hunter may have to scale the side of a mountain or climb over a fence. Rifles carried on a sling can encumber this movement. Using a rifle scope as a handle is a popular way to carry a rifle. It allows the hunter to carry the rifle away from the body freeing movement and is a quick way to grab the rifle. The rifle scope however is mounted to elongate the sight of the shooter not to provide a handle. Therefore, the rifle scope does not offer adequate space for gloved fingers to curl around the scope. Further, using the rifle scope as a handle could jar scope components effecting the hunter's accuracy.
Handles are provided on automatic weapons such as the M16. While these weapons do not normally have scopes, devices for mounting a scope to the handles of these rifles have been described (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,295,754 B1; and 6,886,288 B1). A sight for a hand gun has been described that has an integrated carrying handle (DE 342330). Cameras and range finders have been described mounted to a rifle scope (U.S. Pat. No. 7,643,132 B2; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0257437 A1) yet never to a handle.
There remains a need for a handle that allows a hunter to firmly grip a rifle away from their body while climbing over a fence or scaling a hill. The handle should be easy to apply, should not interfere with the function of the scope, and should not permanently alter the rifle.
All patents, patent applications, provisional patent applications and publications referred to or cited herein, are incorporated by reference in their entirety to the extent they are not inconsistent with the teachings of the specification.